Guaranteed show this Saturday in third rotation on court number 1.
A Wimbledon,
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios have an appointment this Saturday for an electric face-to-face with a place in the knockout stages of Wimbledon at stake, which has not happened at Church Road to the Greek since 2018 and to the Australian since 2016. In the first round, Kyrgios suffered martyrdom to get rid of Briton Paul Jubb (219th and guest) in five sets. He made the show, but not in a good way. He thus attacked a linesman whom he considered too old and with insufficient visual faculties according to him: “these people are over 90 and can’t see the ball“. He also vented his nerves on “disrespectful” spectators, even spitting in the direction of one of them. This very inappropriate gesture prompted the opening of an investigation. After this laborious first round, he appeared in front of the press with a dish of sushi, answering with his mouth full most of the time… Like a bad boy.
Read alsoWimbledon: “I still have a building to climb”, Garcia eighth finalist does not ignite
In the second round, Kyrgios also recalled that he could be a great tennis player, especially on grass, by outclassing Filip Krajinovic, 31e world champion and recent Queen’s finalist (6-2, 6-3, 6-1) with 50 winning strokes. 10 unforced errors. 24 aces. 93% success behind his first ball. 65% on the second. “I wanted to prove to everyone that I was really good“. It is done. Against Tsitsipas, he will have to remain as focused and invested. Which is not always easy for him: There is a balance to be found: I like it when I play at this level, but sometimes it’s difficult because I also want to put on a show.»
Who doesn’t know Nick Kyrgios! It’s good to see him like that, we all know he’s one of the most dangerous players when he’s at his best.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Double winner of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000, three-time semi-finalist at the Australian Open and finalist at Roland-Garros in 2021, Tsitsipas has struggled to tame the turf until now. At Wimbledon, he had only passed the first round once, in 2018 when he reached the knockout stages. But he is progressing. He notably won in Mallorca just before the tournament. He notably improved his backhand slice. A real weapon now:My grass game has evolved in a year. It fits perfectly. Now I feel like home“. Solid second round against the Australian Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in 2h04, he had had a somewhat laborious start with a success in four sets against the 188th world Alexander Ritschard.
Before the clash, the player trained at the Mouratoglou Academy kept a low profile. “Who doesn’t know Nick Kyrgios! It’s good to see him like that, we all know he’s one of the most dangerous players when he’s at his best. I really don’t expect an easy game. Nick played more matches than me on these courts (du All England Lawn Tennis Club). He says he likes to play on grass and I think his game suits this surface. I respect him a lot on the court. Even if he had controversial attitudes.
Lower ranked (40e), the Aussie is actually a slight favorite in view of his CV on this surface. And he leads 3-1 in his duels against the Greek. Kyrgios has just won on grass in Halle in the second round against Tsitsipas. ” this should be an amazing game to watchr” announces the Australian. Let the show begin.